7

Are there equivalents to literary theories for music ? I'm trying to find extensive music review "theories" which would be arguably philosophical ( similar to for example structuralism/psychoanalysis/deconstruction etc..) and involves analyzing the music it self rather than the lyrics. Who are some canonical thinkers/philosopers like Roland Barthes/Freud/Jacques Derrida etc.. for music?
I'm finding it difficult to get a starting point for googling.

DinushanM
  • 921
  • 1
  • 10
  • 16
  • 1
    I think Schenkerian analysis might be an example of what you’re looking for, but there’s a problem which is that Schenker developed his analytic method in order to advance his white supremacist views and “prove” that white European music was the best music made in the world. – Todd Wilcox Jun 24 '22 at 21:14
  • "Philosophy of Music" – Aaron Jun 24 '22 at 21:19
  • @ToddWilcox thank you for introducing Schenkerian analysis! excited to explore more.. – DinushanM Jun 24 '22 at 21:49
  • @ToddWilcox - I'm as anti-white supremacist as the next person, but we still listen to, and play (or sing) Wagner. Do you have a link that will convince me that the Schenker analytical approach should be thrown out like the baby with the bathwater? At some point, I started a master's at Ann Arbor (a hotbed of radical leftism) and when I took a class that introduced me to the Schenker approach, there was no political propaganda in the class, whatsoever. cf. Freud was sexist, but his contribution was still important, no? – aparente001 Jun 24 '22 at 23:48
  • @aparente001 I have no desire to convince you of anything (you could have easily googled and found several sources on your own by now) and I didn’t say anything about throwing anything out. Just putting an asterisk next to Schenker. And I feel like Freud and Wagner might not be totally analogous because their work was not solely intended to further white (or male, or whatever) supremacy. Schenker developed his theories to be deliberately biased. The fact that US universities heavily rely on Schenker is not validation, it’s a big systemic problem. – Todd Wilcox Jun 25 '22 at 01:26
  • @ToddWilcox - A couple years ago I came across something about the guy and his extremist political views, and read the quasi-whistleblower paper. I thought from the way you were talking, there was maybe something new. / I went to Indiana and they did not teach the Schenker approach. I think U of Mich is an outlier. Even if it were as you say, I don't understand why the guy's music analysis and his politics can't be separate. As they were in the course I took. – aparente001 Jun 25 '22 at 02:38
  • @aparente001 Not sure how to make it more clear that his theories of music analysis are inherently political. His goal was to advance a political agenda through music analysis. – Todd Wilcox Jun 25 '22 at 03:37
  • @ToddWilcox - Okay, those were his goals. My question is, do we throw out the baby with the bath water (his contribution to music analysis due to his immoral motivation)? I wasn't sure if that's what you were suggesting in your first comment. I honestly wasn't sure and I'm still not. You can do that if you want to, of course. (I wouldn't.) – aparente001 Jun 25 '22 at 20:14
  • @ToddWilcox I agree it may be something to keep in mind, but his conclusions should be treated on their own merits. Otherwise it is an example of the Ad Hominem fallacy in action - discrediting an argument source to avoid dealing with the argument's content. If a tool is created for some racist motivation, but the tool still functions when lifted out of that context and put in the hands of a non-racist, the creator's racist views are irrelevant. Despicable as they may be. – magic_diagram Jun 25 '22 at 21:51
  • @magic_diagram My point is that the argument’s content is racist. And that’s not my personal interpretation. That’s the intention of the argument according to its author. The analysis method inherently derates non-European music. It was designed to do that. So it doesn’t matter who uses it. It was designed to be racially biased by its creator. His conclusions are that music made by white people is inherently better than music made by non-whites, so you can treat that conclusion based on its.. umm… “merits”. Or lack thereof in this case. – Todd Wilcox Jun 26 '22 at 00:50
  • @aparente001 In your view, what’s the baby and what’s the bath water in this case? To me there isn’t a bad thing that is linked to a good thing. There’s one thing that many people think is good but it has a built in problem. Some people value Schenkerian analysis despite that fact that the very analytical method itself was designed to confirm its creator’s biases. I’m suggesting people be wary of using Schenkerian analysis because either they only analyze white European music (which would be bad) or their analysis would have problems with non-white music (also bad). – Todd Wilcox Jun 26 '22 at 00:56
  • @ToddWilcox - Well, is there some single analytical approach which yields helpful insight when applied to *all* types of music? / The baby thrown out with the bathwater = his contribution to music analysis thrown out with our rejection of his political motivation when he was being creative. (Please see what I put in the parentheses, above.) – aparente001 Jun 26 '22 at 03:22
  • @aparente001 I'm suggesting his "contribution to music analysis" is the bath water. Not the baby. It's not the good thing. It's the bad thing. I don't see a good thing related to Schenker. No baby, only bath water. He wasn't being "creative". He was being white supremacist. – Todd Wilcox Jun 26 '22 at 06:12
  • @ToddWilcox - Do you reject his theory because (a) you've given it a fair chance but you see no intrinsic value, or (b) his racist ideology taints his theoretical work too much for you to give it the time of day, or to allow it to stand even though you would find it useful if not for the author's tainting ideology? If (b), you're of course entitled to your opinion; I'm seeking to understand your original strong comment, and your subsequent comments have left me with this uncertainty. (Thanks for trying, though.) – aparente001 Jun 26 '22 at 21:03
  • @aparente001 I will not comment further on this – Todd Wilcox Jun 27 '22 at 02:07
  • @ToddWilcox - Okay! Total confusion - suit yourself! – aparente001 Jun 27 '22 at 02:15
  • I want to thank you both for being so civil in your discourse! My last piano professor (RIP) was a great believer and practitioner of Schenckerian analysis, and I'm certain he was in no way a white supremacist. He concertized around the world for decades, and was a full professor at Cal State Northridge, and simply found the analysis method highly useful for understanding and approaching WESTERN music from the macro to the micro perspective. I personally believe it has inherent value in that respect, and simply isn't relevant to most non-western music. – Bruce Kamolnick Jun 28 '22 at 20:45

2 Answers2

3

German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) wrote extensively about music. He was a member of the Frankfurt School, and heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud, Marxism, and Hegel's dialectic. He was also a pianist, and he studied composition with Alban Berg.

His most important writing on music has been compiled in the book "Essays on Music". As the publisher puts it:

Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969), one of the principal figures associated with the Frankfurt School, wrote extensively on culture, modernity, aesthetics, literature, and—more than any other subject—music. To this day, Adorno remains the single most influential contributor to the development of qualitative musical sociology which, together with his nuanced intertextual readings of musical works, gives him broad claim as a continuing force in the study of music.

guesty
  • 76
  • 2
2

Yes.

Over the centuries of European music theory there were many theorists and treatises that could be named.

Probably one of the biggest names to look into, especially in terms of linking ancient music theory with modern theory, is Jean Philippe Rameau and his Treatise on Harmony, where he introduced the theory of root progression.

Questions asking for sources are supposed to be off topic, so your question may get closed soon.

Michael Curtis
  • 53,281
  • 2
  • 42
  • 147